Most Famous Disney Princesses Turned Into Zombies

The figure of the zombie has appeared several times in fantasy themed fiction and entertainment, as early as the 1929 novel The Magic Island by William Seabrook. Time claimed that the book “introduced ‘zombi’ into U.S. speech”. In 1932, Victor Halperin directed White Zombie, a horror film starring Bela Lugosi. This film, capitalizing on the same voodoo zombie themes as Seabrook’s book of three years prior, is often regarded as the first legitimate zombie film ever made, and introduced the word “zombie” to the wider world. Other zombie-themed films include Val Lewton’s I Walked With a Zombie (1943) and Wes Craven’s The Serpent and the Rainbow, (1988) a heavily fictionalized account of Wade Davis’ book.

The zombie also appears as a metaphor in protest songs, symbolizing mindless adherence to authority, particularly in law enforcement and the armed forces. Well-known examples include Fela Kuti’s 1976 album Zombie, and The Cranberries’ 1994 single “Zombie”.

A new version of the zombie, distinct from that described in Haitian religion, has also emerged in popular culture in recent decades. This “zombie” is taken largely from George A. Romero’s seminal film The Night of the Living Dead, which was in turn partly inspired by Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend. The word zombie is not used in Night of the Living Dead, but was applied later by fans.